Dream Theater (album)
|- | colspan="2" style="text-align: center" | |- style="text-align: center" ! colspan="3" style="background: lightsteelblue" |Singles from Dream Theater |- style="text-align: left; line-height: 11px; vertical-align: top" | colspan="3" style="font-size: 90%" | #"The Enemy Inside" Released: August 5, 2013 #"Along for the Ride" Released: September 9, 2013 #"The Looking Glass" Released: February 3, 2014 |} Dream Theater is the eponymous 12th studio album by Dream Theater. It was released on September 23rd, 2013. Dream Theater is the second album to feature drummer Mike Mangini, and their first album where he is entirely included in the songwriting process from the start. Dream Theater is available in a wide range of distinctive versions, like with previous albums, including standard and special edition CDs, 180 Gram Vinyl double LP and a Limited Edition Box Set. "We've fully explored all the elements that make us unique," says Petrucci, "from the epic and intense to the atmospheric and cinematic. We're incredibly excited about Dream Theater, and can't wait for everyone to hear it." The lead single, The Enemy Inside, was premiered on USA Today on 5th August 2013. Later, on September 21 at 10:00 AM, there was a live stream of the whole album. Personnel Band *Mike Mangini - Drums, percussion *John Petrucci - Guitar, backing vocals *John Myung - Bass *James LaBrie - Vocals *Jordan Rudess - Keyboards, continuum String Ensemble *Misha Gutenberg (Concert Master), Larisa Vollis - Violin I *Yelena Khaimova, Yevgeniy Mansurov - Violin 2 *Aleksandr Anisimov, Noah Wallace - Viola *Anastasia Golenisheva, Valeriya Sholokhova - Cello *Len Sluetsky - Contrabass Background Dream Theater started writing for their 12th studio album during the A Dramatic Tour of Events in April 2012. They recorded the album in Cove City Sound Studios from January to May 2013, where they recorded their previous album. On June 6th, it was announced that the album would be self-titled, and released on September 24th, 2013. On that date, an "in studio" video of the new album was released to their page, where John Petrucci talks about the guitar tone on this album sounding like, "a rich piece of chocolate cake - multilayered, rich, satisfying, with a lot of body and depth, but just the right amount of icing on top." The band announced that it will include an instrumental, the first time since Stream of Consciousness in Train of Thought in 2003. All songs were given working titles during production, like previous albums. The track listing and album cover were released on the 9th of July. Reception Dream Theater has received critical acclaim. Allmusic called it "one of the more dynamic, far-reaching albums in DT's catalog," giving special praise to Mike Mangini's full integration into the band. Loudwire gave the album a score of 4.5/5, praising its more streamlined sound compared to previous Dream Theater albums and saying that "Towering and atmospheric, ‘Dream Theater’ pushes the envelope into some new musical dimension, a cosmic realm reserved for the best." After being released on September 24, 2013, it sold around 34,000 copies in the first week to land at No. 7 on the Billboard 200 chart, making it the band's second highest chart position, behind Black Clouds & Silver Linings, which peaked at No. 6. It also is the band's third consecutive top 10 debut. Also, the album topped Billboard's list of "Hard Rock Albums". It entered the Top 5 in fifteen countries including Japan, Germany, Argentina, Holland, Finland, Italy, Switzerland and Canada; and Top 10 in nine countries including Denmark, Norway, Austria, Australia and United Kingdom. Many of the fans criticised the production of the album, in particular the compressed tone of Mike Mangini's snare. However, it was well received by the majority of fans and is ranked very highly among their top Dream Theater albums. On December 6th, 2013, the lead single The Enemy Inside was nominated for "Best Metal Performance" Grammy Award. Track Listing 1. False Awakening Suite (instrumental) 2:42 *I. Sleep Paralysis *II. Night Terrors *III. Lucid Dream 2. The Enemy Inside (Petrucci) 6:17 3. The Looking Glass (Petrucci) 4:53 4. Enigma Machine (instrumental) 6:01 5. The Bigger Picture (Petrucci) 7:40 6. Behind the Veil (Petrucci) 6:52 7. Surrender to Reason (Myung) 6:34 8. Along for the Ride (Petrucci) 4:45 9. Illumination Theory (Petrucci) 22:17 *I. Paradoxe de la Lumière Noire (instrumental) *II. Live, Die, Kill *III. The Embracing Circle (instrumental) *IV. The Pursuit of Truth *V. Surrender, Trust & Passion Category:Dream Theater studio albums Category:Dream Theater Era